The Census Bureau is actively engaged with other federal agencies, including other statistical agencies and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), to decide what and how to measure the nation’s people and economy. We also engage a wide range of stakeholders, data users, and the public in those decisions.

In 2015, the Census Bureau participated in the OMB’s Federal Interagency Working Group on Measuring Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Federal Surveys. The group published reports on current measures of sex, gender and sexuality; evaluations of these measures; and a research agenda to address the lack of information on the sexual and gender minority populations.

The Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology (FCSM) has continued to examine measurement issues through the Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Sex Characteristics (SOGISC) Subcommittee, which promotes coordination between federal agencies on issues relating to measuring SOGI in federal data. In 2020, the FCSM released a report that examined sexual orientation and gender terminology and, in 2021, released a report explaining why federal agencies ask about sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Census Bureau has invited public feedback on a proposed field test of SOGI questions on the American Community Survey and is currently conducting cognitive testing on the questions. The field test would test question wording, response categories, proxy responses and placement of sexual orientation and gender identity questions on the ACS questionnaire. The Census Bureau follows an established policy for adding new content to the ACS. The American Community Survey is an ongoing survey that collects detailed housing and socioeconomic data. Federal agencies have expressed interest in and identified legal uses for this information, including for civil rights and equal employment enforcement. identified legal uses for this information, including for civil rights and equal employment enforcement.

The test builds on the research agenda compiled by the OMB Working Group and the FCSM as well as the National Academy of Sciences Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) report on Measuring Sex, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation and the OMB Recommendations on the Best Practices for the Collection of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Data on Federal Statistical Surveys.

Additionally, in 2023, the American Housing Survey (AHS) introduced questions on SOGI for the first time. As the AHS prepares to release that SOGI data later this year as part of the 2023 Public Use File, testing is being conducted to modify the question wording and answer choices for 2025 based on responses collected in 2023.

For the first time ever, the Census Bureau will collect data on the gender identity of business owners in its Annual Business Survey (ABS). Questions will be fielded in the 2024 ABS (reference year 2023) with data collection set to take place from July 2024 to December 2024. Data are tentatively scheduled to be released in October 2025. The Census Bureau will also test adding questions on sexual orientation on the 2024 ABS. The inclusion of these questions will help the Census Bureau provide key statistics on the gender identity of business owners, such as the receipt size of transgender-owned firms.